Days
by SweetBrownie
Summary: The movie didn't show EVERYTHING that happened on RLS Legacy during its voyage to the mythical planet we all know of, as at least a month or two must have gone by while getting there. This is stories of what the characters onboard did during that time. Will mostly take place around Jim Hawkins, but a few chapters might follow others. (T for mild and rare cursing)
1. Day 3: Jim Hawkins, the First Prank

Day 3, 11: 32 o'clock

Swapping the deck of the grand ship called RLS Legacy, Jim Hawkins is not happy at all. The third day in his new life as a spacer, he still get to do the things no-one else want to so. Right now it was to clean the floor of the big boat, and all while he does this uneventful assignment, he reflects on his new existence as one of the crew. He forces the mop in the bucket from time to time, drowning it in the water-and-soap-mix in between a few swings on the planks at his feet; a routine he has gotten a good hang on after a short time.

He finds himself rather bored, all while he gets chore after chore from the cook, John Silver. And to Jim's big irritation, Silver is the one the teenager is supposed to answer to, being a cabin boy and all. The one person Jim finds most to be a big nuisance, with the biggest stomach he ever seen hanging over the edge of his trousers, is the man who the young man is supposed to work together with. John's mechanical eye is the thing getting on Jim's nerve the most; the yellowish light coming from it looks like it could see everything, even thru the walls. And that pink, flying blob, Morph, is just strange, but funny at times with its ridiculous imitations.

The second thing that Jim can't get over with is all the hard work and labor that comes with Jim's new rank assigned to him; there seems to be no perks to come with it. Thus, making the trip even sourer in Jim's eyes; what he first believed to be an adventure of excitement, a liberation from the grey life on Montressor, turns out to be a seemingly never ending list of things he have no interest to do, but must do anyway. He can't understand why he needs to mop the deck when he did it only two days ago.

Being the only teenager on board, and knowing full well he will be trapped like this for months, Jim feels caged in with a bunch of strangers. And in a way he is, as everyone on the whole ship are unknown to him but one from before this voyage began. Jim feels that no-one understands him, and yet again, that is true to some degree. Most of the crew is keeping to their own, whatever secret business it might be; the one that speaks to him the most would be Silver, giving him orders.

The one person Jim does know from before the start of the voyage is one Dr. Delbert Doppler, but he is nowhere in his age range, and therefore interested to talk about complete other things. Most of it goes over Jim's head, and only a few things that the doctor says get stuck in the teenager's memory. Even when Delbert tries to talk about what Jim is interested in, it sounds forced, and that is not a good conversation to have.

Delbert being an astronomical professor of some sort, he speaks with completely other words than Jim, long and incomprehensible words that is, and that doesn't help much with the lack of subjects to talk about. Trying to his fullest to avoid speaking like that to Jim however, the two of them can have a good talk time to time. And that is really time to time, as not often at all.

"Jimbo!" The call interrupts Jim in his thoughts as he sighs to hear the nickname Silver has given him. From the first day, the cook has called Jim that, and even when the teenager has insisted not to be called Jimbo, Silver have of course not listened. And with no-one else calling Jim by that name, he knows instinctively, without even needing to recognize the voice, it must be the cook calling him now.

"What?" Jim asks irritated and turns his head toward the big, bulking man.

"See to it that you are done before lunch, or you will not get any," Silver speaks, with his head poking up from the galley.

Looking back at his work, Jim sees he must have, at a most minimum, a quarter of unclean floor left. And a quarter of a deck as big as the Legacy, it is more than it sounds. And feeling like he can eat his own weight in food, he really wants to go ahead to the lunch. Looking up towards the galley to protest, he sees that Silver already is gone, probably back down in the depths of the ship. Furious, Jim goes back to mopping the floor, mumbling to himself. Orders, chores, and not enough time for himself; the summary of his first three days onboard is not very appealing in his own ears, and yet he have to live with it.

God, what he misses his solar powered board. Why did he ever leave it at home?

* * *

><p>Day 3, 12: 13 o'clock<p>

Flexing his muscles, sore from the chores he has been forced to do these last days and being so unused to have worked so hard, he heads down the stairs to the kitchen. Finally done with cleaning the deck, he looks forward to eat himself full, ready to gulf himself head first with whatever is served today. When coming to the foot of the stairs he takes a quick look around, seeing that the kitchen is empty. But seeing the pot smoking with something smelling delicious, he doesn't give it a second thought before getting a bowl of the soup within. As soon as he takes a seat by the small table he begins to slurp the soup directly from the bowl.

"Ah, good to see you made it in time, Jimbo." Looking up from the bowl, Jim sees that Silver have entered the kitchen from a side-door, holding a basket of fresh vegetables. Morph comes not far behind, flying circles around Johns head and chirps loudly in a try to make John to give him some food. "Got a bit worried. I thought you surely would work a bit slower today when you missed eating yesterday, but you proved me wrong alright."

Jim remembers the day before, and his mood darkens a bit as he gets back to the soup. It is true that he didn't get any dinner the day before. He got to the lunch in time, but not the dinner. That was not even the worse; he got to do all the dishes from the rest of the crew before going to bed. It was the biggest pile of unclean plates, forks, knifes, spoons, cups and pots he ever seen. It took hours to clean up.

"Ah, cheer up, Jimbo," John smiles, sounding smug for reasons unknown to Jim, and goes ahead to a kitchen counter and puts down the basket, with his back towards the teen. Silver starts to cut up the first few vegetables with his trusty tool-hand-thing. Jim has no idea what it is called, he has tried to fathom what it possibly could be named, and has settled with that, the tool-hand-thing. Or alternatively, the tool-hand-weapon-kit, as in Jim's mind there must be weapons, other than the big sword he saw on his first day onboard, must be amongst all the kitchen tools. And together with the mechanical eye and leg, the sight is still something for Jim to get used to.

The teenager noticed the tone in the voice and looks at the back of the cook over the bowl he is slurping from, while raising a brow. "You will get the hang of it sooner or later," Silver goes on, while still working on the vegetables. "All you need is some practice." Morph finally realizes he is ignored for now, and decides to fly over to Jim instead.

_It's not practice I need_, Jim thinks for himself, not wanting to say it out loud as he knows it will lead to a punishment in the form of some extra chores. This he has learned the hard way._ Don't think I don't know that you give me more things to do than necessary. The more I get done, the more you will give me to do_. Jimmy does not like John, and the teenager guesses that the cook feels the same about him, even with the easy-going façade Silver always put up. _We are going on each other's nerve._

Jim smiles faintly to himself as he drinks the last of his soup. He knows he will use this to the fullest; he will irritate John as much as he can. He will stomp that nerve, thug at it and make John's life as miserable as he possible can. Jim will set up with jokes and pranks as often as he can pull of, and see how long he can make it without being caught. And they will mostly be directed towards the overgrown man over at the counter.

Jim has the perfect first prank in mind already. It's not like he has anything else to do to get a thrill around here. And it's not like he can go solar surfing or anything.

* * *

><p>Day 3, 14:05 o'clock<p>

Jim is on his way to throw out the leftovers from the lunch over board; he has Morph following in the heels, wanting to grab himself a second meal. As the food is thrown of the boat, the small thing flings itself after it. Looking down after it, Jim knows Morph will return after a few seconds.

He knows it is for the best not to stay too long, as he has begun to clean the dishes after lunch and a little of it is still undone, he looks back towards the stairs down the galley. Usually he directly heads back down the stairs with the big empty bowl where he carried the leftovers, but now, he just stands there with the bowl in hand, listening while holding his breath.

It is a calm day, and most of the crew is down inside the chip, either heating a late lunch or taking it easy. By the looks of it, it seems to be only Jim outside. It fits perfect with what Jim has planned for, and he hopes it to happen.

He hears John's heavy steps faintly moving around downstairs, an unevenly limp declaring it to be no-one else. Jim lingers, listening to the sound John makes, not acknowledging Morph when he comes back onboard the ship. Instead, anticipation fills the teen.

A loud crash, followed with some bangs and a minor riot, makes Jim smile wide. When hearing John swear, the cabin boy must quiet down a laugh.

"JAMES HAWKINS!"

Jim has learned that whenever John calls him by James it is really serious business; the cook doesn't say that name in any other situation, not even using his last name in any other situation. So when his name is shouted from down the galley, Jim floors it, throwing away the bucket after him. Putting his legs behind his back, he hurries all he can to a predetermined hiding-spot; behind some barrels under the stairs leading to the captain's cabin.

The barrels are covered by a big cloth, all of it buzzed down to the floor with some ropes. If Jim hides behind those barrels and puts some of the cloth over him, he is practically unnoticeable. Hiding down and with the fabric over his head, he hears Silver coming up the stairs and trash around.

"Jimbo, you better come out here, or you will be in big trouble," John breathes furiously.

But Jim has no plans on coming out. He rather sit where he is for the rest of the day and replay the event over and over again in his head. He could barely contain himself, feeling how he wants to throw himself onto the floor and roll around in giddy laughter.

What happened is that Jim has stacked a whole bunch of kitchen tools in a kitchen shelf, specifically one that Jim knows John tends to looks into, before closing the doors. He has stacked them in such a way so it will fall out over the next person who opens it. And that person was just the one Jim has aimed for, the one he so ever hates, John Silver. Jim hasn't chosen anything heavy or hazardously pointy, but things like wooden spoons and other not so dangerous things. But still, some of it might have hurt. _Right at him_, Jim scornfully mutters within his mind.

There is a red light going over his head, spying over the barrels. It is Silver's mechanical eye that has turned red and transformed into some kind of point laser. It usually does when the cook is angry, and it is a good way to know when to stay out of the way. The cook tends to yell a lot in that state, and giving any living thing a deadly glare.

Looking at the light observing the barrels, Jim holds his breath. There was a few seconds when nothing happens, but suddenly John's footstep can be heard. But not on their way off from the barrels, but closer. As the sound grows louder, Jim hears there is also another sound, a sound Jim knows all too well; the chirping noise of Morph. The pink little blob enters Jim's hiding-spot the moment later, and the cloth is removed over his head by a big hand, revealing him to the red light.

Jim is dragged out into the open by the collar, and lifted to his feet. He almost yelps, tries to resist and pulls back, away from the hand holding him by his sweater. He then freezes when what sounds almost as thunder is breaking loose right in front of him.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, PUP?!"

Jim looks up at the face of John, with the mechanical eye burning red and the regular one shooting daggers. Jim is too stunned to answer for a second, he didn't expect to be caught and the small shock is still in effect, but then he decides to act surprised. "What do you mean?"

John shakes him, as if trying to scramble out the truth like you would a ball out a box. "WHAT do you THINK? The whole fumbling with the shelf, I being buried under a bunch of trash and you hiding like you were trying to get invisible."

Jim is getting dizzy from John shaking him, and when the teen tries to speak the only think he can get out is short stutters at the time. "I have no idea what you mean." John stops trashing Jim around and looks him in the eyes.

"Don't take me for a sod with only half a brain. It's easy to put two and two together."

"Oh, is it?" Jim replies offended, now a bit hurt to hear John believe that Jim always do something like this, that it is only logical to assume that the teen has done it. The cook might be right this time, but only because something bad happens it doesn't mean it always is Jim who is the culprit. "Why would you automatically assume it was me in the first place?"

"I know your sort, Jimbo. You are easily bored; you want to do something, want to release your energy somehow and at the same time get the feeling that you are still alive. And believe me, lad, you will know that you are alive when I'm thru with you!"

Jim's cheeks gets red in anger. John is right, but that doesn't make it any less offending, according to Jim. "Sorry to disappoint you, but it wasn't me," Jim half says, half yells, determent to not satisfy John's suspicions about him, however accurate they might be.

"Then at least answer me why you were hiding."

"I saw some rodents and tried to catch them," Jim quickly lies, with his voice full with confidence but still a bit unstable from John's treatment. John looks at him for a long while, studying Jims face carefully. Then he releases the collar and his one eye gets a little less red.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Jim stands his ground, staring defiantly on the face towering over him. And standing there, watching each other, none of them says a word for at least five heartbeats. Jim realizes that heartbeats are all he hears; his heart pumps hard against his chest, something he didn't notice until now. John looks like he contemplates something, as he scratches his chin.

"Well," John finally says slowly, his eye going back to fully yellow and a big grin forming on his lips. "Then it's for the best to get hold of those rodents. Jimbo, you are charged to catch them, and you will not rest until every last of them are cared of."

Silver turns and walks back towards the stairs of the galley when done talking, leaving Jim staring baffled after him.

"... what?" Jim asks, not believing what he hears. Does John actually believe him?

"You heard me," John barks over his one shoulder, sounding content with himself. "You will not eat or go to bed without having anything to show me, so you better get to it." Before going down the opening he turns to Morph. "Morphy, you know what to do." Before the teen could say another word, Silver disappears down into the ship and Morph flies towards Jim to supervise.

Jim can't help himself. He stares with his mouth wide open. He has a hard time believing what he just have heard. Without food or rest? How radical can he get? His thoughts begins to slowly work out what this means, and realizes the strange circumstance he gotten himself into. The big problem is how he is supposed to get his hands on a rodent on a ship in the middle of empty space when he knows it surely are none onboard. And if he wouldn't be able to do this somehow, he must confess the truth to John. That there isn't any rodent, that it was he who was the cause of the accident in the galley and that was why he was hiding. And that would be like... like waltzing right into the brig, lock himself in and throw away the key.

It is first when Morph carefully nudges Jim's head as the teen comes back from his thoughts. They observe each other, Morph having his eyes disproportionately big to show Jim that he is being watched. Jim rolls his eyes, and sighs angrily, before he runs into the lower decks to try to spot at least one rodent, hoping there are any rodents at all.

* * *

><p>Day 3, 17.59 o'clock<p>

_He knows, _Jim thinks irritated, while he feels how his tired and hungry body struggles to do the simplest tasks. _He knows what I did, but he will not say it until I get over to him and tell him the truth myself._ This has dawned on him just a few minutes ago, as he caught an amused John watching him. _Damn it, Silver._

As he has scoured the whole ship for any, ANY, rodent, he hasn't eaten or rested. And the reason is that if he did rest or sleep, or doesn't find anything, Silver will understand that he lied. And as it seems there isn't any rodent to catch, Jim understands the only thing to do now is to tell Silver how things really happened and hope for the best. Jim doesn't like it a bit, and decides that he will count each day he is on this godforsaken boat until he gets off, away from the cook he hates so much.

But there is still one thing he hasn't understood yet. How did John find him so easily when Jim is convinced he couldn't be seen? And after only a second he has his answer flying right into his view.

"Morph, it was you. You led him right to me."

The small, odd creature looks at him, surprise showing clear in the even smaller face. Probably, Morph has forgotten all about it. Feeling the anger grow in his stomach, Jim darts forward to catch the pink thing, only to fail time and time again; Morph shows to be very fast when he wants to. The pink creature enjoys the chase, making teasing noises, as he thinks Jim plays a game with him, making Jim even madder.


	2. Day 4: Delbert Doppler, Friendly Grounds

Day 4, 08. 14 o'clock

Dr. Delbert Doppler stands on the observation deck and breathes in deeply the morning air. It is a beautiful, sunny day today, as the boat is passing a big, blazing star. He feels his mood being upbeat, and all his troubles seems far away in the horizon. All that changes though when he sees the captain coming towards him and stops beside him to observe the activities on the deck below.

Captain Amelia, one of the few female crewmen on the RLS Legacy, has become Delbert's antagonist of some sort. They have disliked each other since day one, and after three days on the same ship has not made any improvement on that matter. It has rather done the opposite, as the situation between them has only escalated to the worse.

She is slim and of normal length, and maybe not much to look at on first sight. But she is very agile and self-confident, much of it confirmed the very first time the two of them met. She was up in the masts and swinging between them while inspecting the boat. _A preposterous way of inspecting anything; dangerous, too much of a risk to get someone harmed and downright dumb._

She is also direct, brief and stern in her ways, in such exaggerated features it is uncharacteristic for women according to Delbert. Friendliness comes in a shortage, and it seems she only shows any to her first mate, Mr. Arrow. And he seems to be of the same mindset, and only shows the only friendship he seems to have towards her.

"Good morning, doctor," she greets in a well-mannered way, but there is an undertone in her voice that tells Delbert she is not wishing him anything of the sort. "Beautiful day, is it not?"

"Yes, indeed," Delbert greets back, putting the same strain to his voice.

They stands there in the following pause, avoiding to look at each other. Below them, a few crewmen is hanging around on their free-time. Glancing for his only friend onboard the ship, Delbert can't find Jim anywhere among the figures moving before him. _Must be slaving down in the galley, as he usually does._

He sigh and tries to figure out an excuse to get down from the observation deck without making himself sound like an overly bad person. And seeing the big shape of John moving on the other side of the ship, Delbert finds the prefect way out.

"If you excuse me, captain, I need to discuss something with Mr. Silver."

Amelia nods but doesn't say anything, showing in silence that Delbert is excused. The doctor strolls down the stairs from the observation deck and goes to intercept John. "Silver? May I have a word with you?"

The cook halts and turns to face the incoming doctor. And giving a friendly smile, John don't seem to mind the small intrusion. "Yes, good sir. What can I help you with?"

Stopping in front of him, Delbert smiles, thankful of the getaway from the so awful woman called Captain Amelia. Even if the doctor has no real subject to discuss, he can always have a chit-chat with John; after all, this is only the fourth day on board and Delbert hasn't got any good chance to get to know the man.

* * *

><p>Day 4, 13. 20 o'clock<p>

The day goes by relatively fast, and Delbert is yet again on the observation deck, this time making a few studies on the stars they are passing. With the help of a small telescope, he can take a close look on them. And with the help of a few other tools, he can find out the distance to them and their size. Writing down what he sees, he forgets the time when he works with the subject of planet and stars. Astronomy has always been his passion.

Too into of what he is doing, Delbert doesn't notice the footsteps closing in. He looks up first when a voice speaks right behind him, startling him a bit.

"Busy, I see," Mr. Arrow observes, his back straight as the masts on the ship and his face as hard as a rock face as usual. With his hands behind his back, the military aura never fails to radiate out from him.

"Yeah, astronomy, you know," Delbert clarifies, not knowing if Mr. Arrow understands what the doctor does.

Mr. Arrow is the captain's first mate, and is a big, muscular man. She is much like the captain in his ways, and probably the only friend she has and needs. Probably it is vice versa, too; that Amelia is the only friend needed for Mr. Arrow.

"Isn't this already known stars?" Mr. Arrow asks with some mild irritation. "You would learn a great deal more when coming closer to our destination, as that part of the galaxy is mostly uncharted."

"You are correct on that, but it isn't often you get a chance to look at these stars with your own eyes," Delbert answers while going back to writing in his papers. "In all my life I have been on Montressor," he adds a bit sadly, getting a fitting face to go with it. "I usually don't venture longer than a few miles from my home. The only stars I could watch was the one showing on the night sky. I had to read about other stars in books."

"I see," Mr. Arrow looks up on the small dots of light on the sky above him. "So this is your first journey amongst the stars?"

"Obviously."

There is a long pause when none of them said anything; Delbert feels relived as he has no bigger liking towards Mr. Arrow, he is too much like the captain. Instead, Delbert could for a short time concentrate on what he is doing. But unknowing to the doctor, Mr. Arrow gets a sad smile in his face, as if he knows how it feels. To have a dream, but not able to live it fully. But then the serious face gets back, a determination showing in his face. A small scheme is planned, and a small promise is made to one lonely man to another.

"Sounds strange to me." The sudden line spoken by Mr. Arrow makes Delbert halt in the middle of a written sentence. The doctor looks up and observes the first mate, who is still looking up at the sight above him.

"What's so strange about it?" the doctor asks, thinking it is an odd thing to say.

"That you love astronomy so much, but yet don't get out to take a look at them yourself."

Delbert gets an even sadder look in his face, as he knows this to be true. He has always felt trapped inside the walls of his observatory, with all its books and the big telescope always aiming at the stars. There is no real life in always reading the essays and studies of others.

"I know," he finally speaks and looks down from Mr. Arrow.

The first mate stops observing the stars and goes to observe the doctor instead. "You know," he speaks, with voice lowered and a small smirk showing. "The captain is a seasoned officer. She has been on many journeys and seen much of the galaxy with her own eyes."

Delbert blinks, meeting the eyes of the first mate. "Really?"

"If you want to hear from someone who has seen much of what there is to see out there you should go and ask her. She have seen more than anyone on this ship." With that, Arrow walks of, away from Delbert who has a hard time believing what it is said to him.

_Go and ask that feline? _He gets a contemptuous face of the bare thought of the captain knowing anything that could help HIM, an astronomer who has studied years and gotten several degrees in the subject._ Not as long as I have my sanity left. _And with that, he goes back to observing the stars with his little telescope and writing down things in his documents.

* * *

><p>Day 4, 16. 00 o'clock<p>

Another tree hours of stargazing has made Delbert tired, and he really likes to go to a secluded part of the ship with a nice cup of tea together with a good book to read. Collecting his stuff and making a detour to drop them off in his small cabin and to get the book, he then goes down in the galley to get some tea.

In the galley he finds Jim, preparing vegetables to dinner together to John with small knifes. The teenager has a look on his face that tells Delbert that he daydreaming of adventure. Looking up thru the wooden grid that makes part of the ceiling of the galley (but the floor of the upper deck), Jim doesn't concentrate what his hands are doing. John is observing the teen in the corner of his eye, observing how the young boy is doing.

"God day, gentlemen," Delbert greets with a smile, feeling good to have spent the greater part of the day to what he loves. "How are you this fine hour?"

"As good as the last time you asked this morning, doctor," Silver greets back in the same manner.

Jim stays quiet, still preparing the vegetable he has in his hands slowly with a knife, not even looking at Delbert.

"Jim?" the doctor asks, trying to get his friend's attention.

Still nothing, as the daydreaming state seems to be unbreakable.

"Jimbo?" John tries from where he works with his own bunch of vegetables to get the teen back to earth, the cook getting a bit irritated that the cabin boy doesn't even answer.

Jim snaps out of it and looks at the two of them, a deep frown showing in his face as he thinks the other two should have something better to do than to bother him. "What?" he asks, irritated.

"I was asking how you are doing," Delbert speaks, now beginning to look for the tea in one of the shelves.

"I'm good."

"Good to hear," Delbert mumbles, as he gets sight of the tea and reaches for it. Just out of his grasp, the tea stays where it stands, unmoving.

"Dr. Doppler?" a sudden voice asks, making everyone in the galley turn their heads towards its point of origin. By the foot of the stairs is Mr. Arrow, his manner as usual strict and hard. "The captain wants a word with you."

Delbert's mood sinks drastically only when hearing that Amelia wants to speak. Why him, of all people?

"And what may she want?" Dr. Doppler asks, grumbling over the situation with the tea, and tries again to retrieve it without making any better progress than before.

Mr. Arrow walks over to Delbert and helps the doctor by taking down the tea. Handing it over, Mr. Arrow gets a grateful smile from Delbert.

"She wants to speak about astronomy," the first mate clarifies.

Delbert can't do anything but blink towards the bigger man in front of him. _Is he serious? But we can't stand each other._ The doctor tries to get a grasp of the strange request, and an awkward pause follows. He can see from the corner of his eye how John and Jim gives each other a look; a silent dialog between the two that tells him they surely agree with him.

Delbert clears his throat. "Well, it will be interesting to hear what she has to say," he smiles, and there was nothing else but sincere curiosity in his voice. This is something highly unusual indeed. "Excuse me, Jim. John."

Delbert accompanies Mr. Arrow up the stairs, taking the tea with him and with the cook and the cabin boy staring after them. Away from the others Delbert takes the chance to understand what the whole thing was about.

"Mr. Arrow, why is it that the captain wants to speak with me about astronomy? If I am allowed to say so, but isn't it a bit out of character of her?"

The first mate stops and turns to Delbert, all in a sweep with his hands behind his straight back. "Maybe it is, doctor. And maybe it was me who talked her into it."

Delbert halts, shocked of the revelation. "Why?" he is able to ask, not understanding the reason why Arrow would do something like this.

"Because you are not the only one that has something of a dream."

Delbert, still not able to understand, gets furrows in his brow.

"You see, Dr. Doppler," Mr. Arrow continues with his voice lowered, looking down. His back is not as straight as it usually is, and it looks almost like the first mate's spirit is broken. "I like the captain, I really do. Maybe even more so than she does me. But I know that even how much I like it to be, she will never… love me in that way."

The understanding hits Delbert as a rock, and he can't stop himself when the corners of his mouth perks up a bit. He could never believe this about a man like Mr. Arrow, even less having feelings like this towards a woman like the captain.

"I see her every day, but I can never tell her how I feel. Because in her eyes, we are only friends. If I told her, and if it doesn't turn out good, then we will lose what we already have." When he is done talking Mr. Arrow turns to Delbert, a sad smile showing.

"Sorry to have to ask," the doctor speaks. "But what does this have to do with me and the captain speaking about astronomy?"

Mr. Arrow's back gets straight again, and his manner goes back to what to usual. But the smile is still there when he answers the question. "I might not be able to live out my dream, but I might help you with yours by letting you speak with the captain."

* * *

><p>Day 4, 16. 15 o'clock<p>

Delbert stares at the fabric of the door leading the captain's cabinet. He can't believe himself for even considering the idea; when he realized he would be better of trying it out he wondered if he was seriously ill. _Mr. Arrow surely lied, she can't be the only one on this ship who can help me! _But the more Delbert thought on it, the more possible it gets.

He has checked with everyone but the captain, and barely half of them knows what the word astronomy means. Many of them seems to have seen much of space, though, but are unwilling to share their knowledge. Whenever he asks the first mate to tell him about space instead, Mr. Arrow only directs him to the captain. And there is no idea to ask Jim, as Delbert knows this is the first journey the teen is on; Jim hasn't any bigger interest in astronomy anyway and therefore has nothing to offer on the subject.

Mumbling to himself, Delbert considers the thought of just making it on his own. It is more interesting to discover the things for himself, but with the captain's help, he can discover so much more. The dilemma he stands in front of is if his lust to learn is greater than the disgust he feels for Amelia. The two sides struggles within him, hindering him from knocking on the door.

He stands there, silent, staring, grumbling for himself. He doesn't notice the minutes flying by, and before he knows it, Delbert feels his fingers go numb of the cold night air. He has to make a choice.

He sighs, and reaches for the doorknob.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, now when this chapter is all done, I feel that I owe people a small explenation. For those of you who read the first chapter and enjoyed it might have expected something funny in the next chapter, much like the first one. And that was my plan in the start. When I came halfway with the next chapter I relized all of a sudden that I wanted a good introduction to Captain Amelia, Mr. Arrow and Delbert Doppler. So the chapter I began with at first was to be the third chapter and I began on a new chapter that was to be the this chapter.<strong>

**When I worked with it I got the idea to try to get a better understanding on Mr. Arrow and his view on his relationship to captain Amelia, and also the begining of Delbert and Amelia warming up to each other (everything being from Delbert's POV, but anyway). The idea of Arrow being secretly in love with Amelia come quite late in the writing, and I would love to hear if that was the right choice to do on my part. In the end, the more I wrote on the chapter, the more I understood it will not be as the first chapter, but take a more sad and serious look at things. But I don't mind, as I have put friendship and adventure as genres for this story, not humor. Just thought I should tell you all why it all turned out like it did with this chapter.**

**Anyhow, I assure everyone that the humor will be back in the next chapter. I have already made about 1500 words on it, and my goal is to do at least 2500 words on each chapter.**


	3. Day 5: John Silver, Revenge

**Agh, to hell with the 2500-word rule. No need to force things out when it only makes the outcome worse.**

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><p>Day 5, 05.07 o'clock<p>

John enters the sleeping area and takes a pause by the entrance to observe the dozens and dozens of hammocks hanging in there. The rest of the crew, except for those on the nightshift, sleeps deep. There is all kind of snoring coming from the peaceful scene, making a choir of sounds that would make most people twist and turn in their beds in tries to get some sleep of their own. But if you really is tired, as all working on a ship gets without a doubt, these loud noises doesn't bother one bit. A good example being young Jim sleeping in the far end of the room, right under Mr. Snuff, the big slug creature that is one of the flatula species.

John himself has been up for about fifteen minutes, being up and preparing for the day's work. And now it's the time for his cabin boy to get up and help with the breakfast for all the sleeping people in this room. Taking hold of one of the hammock's cord it uses for holding itself up, Silver shakes it roughly. Jim wakes up with a jerk, causing him to rock even more in his hammock.

"Time to rise, Jimbo, lad."

Jim looks drowsy up at the cause of his awakening, sighing when he comprehends it to be John. "Go away," the teen pleads and settles back into his bed.

"Now, now, you have gotten our beauty sleep. Get up."

Jim gives him a glare, and if a look could kill John would be dead on the spot. The cook couldn't stop grinning, as he enjoyed to get on the boy's nerve. The teen tried a stunt not that long ago, tried to bury John under a bunch of kitchen tools to get a laugh. Being proud of his genius plan of holding Jim to his lie, it was John who got the laugh in the end. _Damn pup, who doesn't know how to pick fights. If he wasn't such a damn pup, he wouldn't have been able to stand straight after what he did. No, holding him to it was the best thing to do. And the look on his face when he confessed? It was hilarious._

Morph pops up over John's shoulder, letting out an alerting chirp, and darts over to Jim the second after. The small thing wouldn't let Jim be, and keeps bothering the teen to no end. Jim, knowing that he will never be allowed to go back to sleep as long as the two is there, he gives a tired and irritated sigh as he gets up and gets his boots on.

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><p>Day 5, 06.39 o'clock<p>

No rest for the wicked. That is best way to describe Jim right now, as he barely gets any time to haul himself some breakfast before John sends him out to work. Looking at the teen's backside when Jim goes up the stairs, John indulges himself in his gloat. And if that hasn't been enough, John can't shake of the thought he has carried ever since Jim's prank the other day. Inspiration has truck him, and a little plan of his own has taken form in his mind. Turning his head a little toward the resting pink blob on his shoulder, Silver chuckles quietly.

"I tell you, Morph, Jimbo should get something back for his trouble. We should make our own little fun on his expense. But that will be our little secret. Right, Morphy?" Morph chirps, turning to a miniature of John. "Our little secret," he repeat after the cook with his tiny voice. Maybe little too high, as John is sure he hears footsteps on the upper deck.

"Shhh, not so loud," John quietly warns and glances up the stairs with worry for getting caught showing in his face. It seems that no-one took notice, as there isn't any sound from the top of the stairs or anyone coming back down. Turning back at Morph, John gets back his grin. "Good. Keep an eye on him, and won't let him down here until I call."

Morph turns back into his regular form and flies away, out the exit and out of sight. John chuckles again, a bit louder this time as he has the perfect prank in mind. He is about to open a shelf to get something out, but stops himself as his hand is on the handle. He gets a suspicious face, on the verge on counting as serious, and moves out the way before he whacks the door open. Nothing falls out of it, and John lets his smile come back to his face.

It is high time to get a laugh on this boat.

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><p>Day 5, 11. 55 o'clock<p>

Going up the stairs, John spies for his cabin boy. The teen is currently putting on a new layer of a protective lacquer on the railings surrounding the open deck with Morph flying over his head. John has given him the task of sanding and putting lacquer on the wooden floor, railings and the walls, all of these areas is worn not only by the things out in space, but also of the crew. Both forces makes the wood take a heavy blow overtime, and if you want the fabric to keep good quality, you need to put on a new layer of lacquer now and then.

A time-consuming task, John saw it fit as a punishment for Jim's prank. The teen has worked with nothing else nothing else but sanding and painting the wood the whole day yesterday and all morning today.

John smiles mischievously to himself. _Now, revenge will be served,_ he declares as he disguise his grin into a more every-day look and opens his mouth to call for the cabin boy.

"Jimbo!"

Jim turns his head, glaring at the cook. The look has no bigger effect on the bigger figure, as a friendly smile covers John's face. "It's time to eat," the cook declares.

The expression in Jim's face goes from irritated to blank, from blank to surprise and from surprised to suspicion, all in the matter of seconds. "I'm not done with the railing-" he begins, as the cook has told him not to come back into the galley to eat lunch until the railings is done. He did all the floor yesterday, and began with a wall or two. And only about one fourth of the railings is done.

"You want to starve, lad?"

The question makes Jim stare on the cook as if observing someone who just have done something totally unexpected. John has no idea what that unexpected would be, but by reading by Jim's face it is probably of the worst kind. There is a pause before John decides to speak again, now sounding a bit unsure.

"You haven't got much food these last days, so I just thought that I should be kind for once," he tests and looks for any changes in the boy's face. "But if you want to, you can keep on working until you are done."

"No, I'm coming." Jim seems to swallow the lie, and puts down the big brush covered with lacquer before starting his way towards the galley. Morph follows, chirping hungrily. Silver smiles wider, and heads down the stairs as Jim gets to the opening.

Downstairs there is one plate with steaming hot food placed on the table, with a glass of milk and cutlery. Jim takes a seat and gives a starved look at the food in front of him. It smells delicious; only the sight of it makes Jim's mouth water. And not before long, he takes the first bite and chews it fast, eager to fill himself full of the dish.

Morph comes over to John and takes his usual seat on the shoulder while still declaring how hungry he is. John gives the blob a glance before looking back on Jim, and Morph grows silent. That short look has a very clear meaning; _Not now, something will happen._ Morph gets curious and observes the teen, who has stopped chewing. Jim gets a strange face; an alarming look that could only mean one thing.

"My God, its BURNING!" Jim screams and spits out the food. John is not late to show how entertained he is; his laughter echoes thru the whole ship, in the company with Jim's struggle to make the painful sensation in his mouth go away.

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><p>Day 5, 12. 10 o'clock<p>

"You went too far," Jim whines as he lies on the floor of the galley, clutching his burning stomach, with his tongue stunned and cheeks aching. "And it's not funny!"

John can't stop chuckle when observing the poor boy. This is the most entertaining idea he had for a long time. Amelia, together with Mr. Arrow and Delbert, stands by the stairs and observes the unusually sight before them. Morph is feasting of a big bowl food, which is not spiced with superhot chili sauce, complete unaware of anything happening that is not directly concerning him.

"Mr. Silver, are you sure he will be alright?" the captain asks one final time.

"Yes, captain, sir. It was all just an accident. Must have taken the wrong ingredients by mistake."

"You wish!" Jim growls. "You did it on purpose."

"Then see to it that it doesn't happen again," the captain commands, ignoring Jim's statement completely, and walks up the stairs with Mr. Arrow following closely behind her. Delbert stays for a second, giving Jim a worried look.

"No worry, Jim. The pain doesn't last for long," the doctor ensures. Jim grimaces, as it feels like it will not go over anytime soon, and looks on as Delbert gets up the stairs himself.

John chuckles again, glad to get even with the boy. Maybe this might make the pup think more carefully before doing any prank on old John Silver. Even as he believes this might be a onetime phenomenon, John has enjoyed it. In the world of traveling long distances trapped on a ship, the voyages can get far too boring after a time. With this boy on board, it might change.

But still, the boy needs to learn how to pick fights. If it was to be anyone else of the crew, Jim wouldn't be so lucky. If it was Scroop, the teen would surely be dead by now.

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><p>Day 5, 15. 00 o'clock<p>

Peeking over at Jim for the first time since lunch, John tries to determent what the teen is thinking. Still working with the railing, the teen has done more than two thirds, with Morph observing every move he does. Silver wants to know if there will be another prank coming at him in the near future, or if the boy has learned a lesson. But so far, John is unsure what to make of it. Jim seems seep in thought, but the cook can't make up what the teen seem to think on.

Looking back down the stairs, Silver disappears down into the galley. As he comes to the bottom he scratches his chin, smiling to himself for his own little trick with the chili sauce. Even when he had to throw whatever was left of Jim's food, it was all worth it. But if Jim decides to do another trick, John don't know if he should stop the prank spree. The logical thing would be to stop it, but there is not that many entertaining things on a boat. Should John really terminate this one? He is terribly unsure on the matter.

Within minutes though, John starts playing with the thought of Jim's potential comeback and begins to plot revenge. _I can't do the same thing again, that's for sure_. The boy's wailing about attracted the attention of Arrow, who was happening to pass the opening to the stairs, so the whole thing didn't go as unnoticed as John planned it. John insisted it to be an accident when captain asked what happened, but if the same thing would happen again, Arrow and the captain will surely suspect something.

After trying to get a plan clear, he has nothing to show for it. Maybe he should put a stop it.

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><p>Day 5, 18. 27 o'clock<p>

Something is amiss, John can feel it. Jim has not been himself since the trick with the food. It takes only a glance, and you know the boy plans something. John can swear it is another prank. He bets his hat on it, it MUST be another prank. But to his own surprise, John has decided not put a stop to it. Not yet anyway. He rather see what Jim will think of next, reason being the boredness of the whole traveling business. For too long there has been nothing but work on boat rides like this and not enough fun. Maybe, Jim will even learn to keep to himself on the way. And there will always be fun to see how far he will take things.

And sure as the paint on the boat, based on the face Jim gives him across the table while eating dinner, the next prank will come soon. Maybe even the next day, if John has to guess. But John will be keeping his eyes open. The boy will not be able to do anything without Silver knowing about it.

The next few days will be interesting.


End file.
